Tempered By Water
by BlackMoonWhiteSky
Summary: Pikea has only ever known the Southern Water Tribe, and it has allowed her to learn something most Firebenders never fully do. Control. But while she has gained one, she has lost the other. Pikea had no Passion. And then she met Zuko. OCxZuko
1. The Water Tribe's Firebender

Pikea has only ever known the Southern Water Tribe, and it has allowed her to learn something most Firebenders never fully do. Control. But while she has gained one, she has lost the other. Pikea had no Passion. And then she met Zuko.

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Tempered By Water

Chapter 1: The Water Tribe's Firebender

* * *

Despite the rumors to the contrary- there were in fact two benders still residing in the Southern Water Tribe. One was the young waterbender, Katara. The other... the other was an older girl named Pikea, and she was a _**firebender**_...

* * *

Her mother was Nukka, a water tribe girl who was taken prisoner in one of the raids. Her father, Durhi, was a firebender- one of the soldiers guarding the water tribe prisoners. Durhi fell in love with Nukka; he fell in love with her beauty, with her kindness, and her great cleverness. He did his best to make her like him back, but it was not until he almost lost his life to protect her from danger that Nukka finally gave in to the feelings she had been slowly developing for him.

Their love for one another was great, but their fear kept them from trying to escape together. It was fear, however, which finally moved them to run. Fear... when faced with perhaps the one thing which should have brought only joy.

Nukka was with child.

Durhi knew that even if, by some miracle, Nukka survived the process of childbirth in the Fire Nation prison camp- their child would not. They had to escape.

With the aide of the other water tribe prisoners- they staged a breakout.

Nukka got away.

...Durhi did not.

Heart heavy with grief for her lost love, Nukka led the other water tribe escapees across the unforgiving tundra, back to their home. Although she had clearly loved a firebender, the tribe still accepted Nukka back into their hearts, and they loved the dark haired, pale skinned girl-child that she birthed as one of their own.

* * *

Pikea was wild and willful; it was no great shock to any of them that she became friends with the warrior-to-be Sokka, –_Whom conveniently '_forgot'_ her gender except when he used it to make a point in an argument._\- instead of the calm Katara, –_At least, she tried to be calm, Pikea just found her to be a nagging killjoy most days._\- but despite these things, she was still a good girl at heart who cared about everyone in the village. If she was asked for help, she almost always gave it, even if she really didn't want to.

Her mother passed on from the world when Pikea was nine years old. Sokka's family took her in and loved her as if she belonged with them by blood. Although she was grateful for their kindness, she was despondent. Her heart was full of grief for a very long time after that. She learned to hide it, to spare them worry.

Her only consolation was that her mother was finally with the man she'd only every heard tales about- her father. She took comfort in that, and she liked to imagine that they were watching over her from Spirit World.

It did not help on those bitingly cold nights when all she wanted was a hug from her mother to make the dark feelings within her heart go away.

* * *

When, approximately a year later, Pikea discovered that she could firebend- she disappeared for two whole months. When she came back, it was with an Arctic Foxowl at her side and a subdued air about her that was completely unlike the girl they knew so well. Whenever she lost her temper and used her firebending instinctively, she would disappear again for another month or two.

At first, Sokka thought Pikea was running away out of fear for the tribe's reaction, but as the time between incidents stretched, he realized she left to train herself. To learn control. By the time she was fourteen, she no longer needed to leave.

She still did though, that was a thing he couldn't understand. It was Katara, instead, who came the closest to understanding it. Bending was in their blood; to not bend, it was like denying a part of your soul. What only _**Pikea**_ knew, though- was that she left to do it, not to protect everyone from her fire, -_she had learned the art of control_\- but to keep them from being reminded of all the horrible things visited upon them by firebenders. She was protecting them from memories.

She always left in the summer, during the time of the midnight sun, and returned with a look of peace on her face. She had the temper, the rash nature, of a firebender, but it was tempered by growing up in the Southern Water Tribe.

Although the only bender was Katara, the people of the tribe all had a certain air about them, a flow. They understood the nature of Tui and La, even if they could not relate it to bending. It taught her to be flexible, taught her how to let go. It could not change the fierceness of her spirit, but she learned that the fierceness did not have to be big in order for it to burn brightly. It was a lesson that many firebenders had long since forgotten.

Pikea's bending was beautiful, almost fluid in her motions, and she had absolute control, but there was no strength to her movements. No force. No true, undying passion. She could fight with her fire, but against another firebender, she would undoubtedly lose. That would not stop her from trying her absolute best.

Especially if she was fighting to protect the tribe.

The people she loved with all of her being.

She would do anything to protect them.

* * *

Pikea understood the harsh nature of the war. The very blood in her veins, despite the great love that created it, was a testament- an everyday reminder of the war.

So she understood Sokka's caution when they met the boy in the ice, but that did _not_ mean that she agreed with him. "What do you think Sokka? The Fire Nation sealed him inside the glacier for us, in our fishing boats, to find? You think it's a trap? An elaborate plot to take us down with adorable little kid smiles? Sounds positively devious to me. Truly."

She could not, in that moment, decide which was funnier- the expression on Sokka's face, or the Bison-drool covered airbender boy that had inadvertently put it there.


	2. In The Blood

_Pikea has only ever known the Southern Water Tribe, and it has allowed her to learn something most Firebenders never fully do. Control. But while she has gained one, she has lost the other. Pikea had no Passion. And then she met Zuko._

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**I wanted to thank everyone who favorited/alerted, and say a special thanks to **Blazingfire55**, **LeeForShort**, **SophieNewman**, **Outlandish Dreamer**,** **and **Rayna17** for the reviews. I'm _really_ sorry for how long y'all have had to wait for an update, but I hope you like the chapter.**

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**Tempered By Water**

**Chapter 2: In The Blood**

* * *

Pikea's casual pose suggested total relaxation, one leg stretched out before her, the other tucked close, an elbow on her pale blue-clad knee. Her chin rested against her naginata, eyes on the water flowing soothingly below her. It was only the irritated twitching of her eyebrows that gave away the lie. If Sokka made one more obnoxious comment about the spectacular lack of flying by the sky bison, she was going to boot him into the water.

Let Katara fish him out- she could use more bending practice anyways.

And it would get back at him for that, "Leave it to a girl to screw things up" comment from earlier. Of course, in Sokka's mind, Pikea was something of a nonentity when it came to his gender bias. She was a girl, yes, but they had been raised as warriors together- by special request of her mother. She might not wear her hair in the same warrior's wolf-tail, but the bone choker at her throat proved her status just as his did. The main difference between the two necklaces was that hers had the symbol of the southern water tribe set in blue stone on the front.

And under that, resting secretively against her skin, was the last gift she had received from her mother- a red stone with the symbol of her father's nation carved on its surface.

She could still remember her mother's words as the stone was placed in her hands, _"You are a child of two great nations, my precious daughter, and one day this war will be over. One day it will be safe to proudly proclaim ties to both. Until then, keep these symbols close together- keep the hope that they will be friends, alive._

"_The pride in your blood. The pride of a warrior. If any can keep such a hope alive, I know that it will be you. My precious little fire flower, be strong like your father, take pride in your warrior's blood. And remember that it is a heart which makes a person, not the symbol that they wear."_

Pikea would do her best to live up to those words, but it was hard. It was hard when fire nation soldiers attacked their tribe and killed Kya. Hard when she saw the hate for the fire nation bloom in the hearts of young Katara, and even her dear friend, Sokka. Hard when Hakoda took the other warriors and left to fight in the war. Hard when she had to help Sokka teach children how to fight.

It was hard in simple ways, too. Hard because she knew nothing about her father. Hard because she could not even bend without seeing eyes full of fear. Hard because she knew nothing good about the fire nation- there was nothing for her to hold on to, to tuck into her heart.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of a gentle _churr_ in her ear, and her attention shifted to the foxowl draped across her shoulders. Large, pale, golden eyes blinked at her, luminous as the moon. Feathers ruffled, a head tilted- demanding a scratch, and a tail flicked against her cheek. Her lips curled up into a smile- trust Purhda to get her out of a foul mood.

Or was it a fowl mood? Pikea loosed a quiet giggle.

...Yeah, her puns were just as bad as Sokka's.

Sensing that her mistress was in a better mood, Purhda's beak gave a gentle tug on Pikea's left hair loop and then she settled back into a nap.

"Um...why are you smiling at me like that?" Pikea pulled her attention from the water at Katara's slightly uncomfortable question- a glance at the embarrassed airbender's face had her stifling another giggle. Who knew the waterbender was such a heart breaker?

Sokka let out an exaggerated groan of disgust, and Pikea rolled her eyes at him before a smirk suddenly crawled across her face, "Hey... Sokka." A grunt was his response, her smirk just grew at his moody attitude, "I think you still have some sky bison snot in your hair."

This time her pose of casual content was real, a smile on her face as the air was filled with the grossed out panic of her fellow warrior. Ahh, it was the simple things in life that made it worth while.

* * *

**-This is a line.-**

* * *

Pikea looked up from sharpening the edge of her boomerang at the proud, "Aang, this is the entire village. Entire village, this is Aang." The corners of her mouth pulled down into a subtle frown at the obvious fear that everyone displayed.

She looked away, gazing down at the arctic foxowl sitting at her feet instead. Purhda had her bushy tail wrapped around her paws like a turtlecat, head tilted to an uncomfortable looking angle, but that was foxowls for you. She shrugged at the fluffball, a quiet, "Well, it's not like I can really blame them," slipping out.

She'd fallen asleep during the ride back to the village the night before, but even though her exposure to the airbender was rather brief- she already had the sense that he wasn't much of a threat. He was just a kid -her frown turned into a small smirk- just a kid with a crush. There wasn't much about him to be afraid of, but he was a stranger. A strange stranger -she chuckled at her own little joke- and that was enough reason to be frightened for some of them.

Still, their fear made her uncomfortable.

Pikea put her tools away, the boomerang into her hip sheath, and grabbed her naginata. She slung it across her shoulders, hooking her wrists over it to hold it casually in place as she gracefully wove through the huts to the unfortunate looking watchtower. Another glance back at the group of villagers, a shake of her head at their tense body language, and she climbed up to play lookout. Sokka would come get her when it was time to run the children through weapons drills. He knew she didn't have the patience to deal with them until then.

It was too disquieting to stand beside him while he lectured about showing no fear when facing a firebender, feeling the warmth of the sun sink into her blood, the breath of fire in her lungs. Keeping a completely impassive face as he inadvertently told them to show no fear when facing someone like her.

So she waited until he actually managed to get them started with their drills, and then she stood beside him, correcting forms and giving gentle, encouraging advice. Her favorite was spears, as it was the most similar to her own weapon of choice, and was the one she was most proficient with.

Sokka had asked about it once, since the naginata was not a traditional weapon of the water tribe, and had been shocked to learn that it was the weapon of choice for the special unit of Southern Raiders to which her father, Durhi, had belonged. Not understanding her desire to learn a weapon of the enemy, he ended up ignoring her for almost a week before Hakoda finally stepped in and reminded her angry friend that it was he who had agreed to teach her to wield it in the first place. Unable to go against his own father, Sokka had returned to normal, although he tended not to mention the weapon unless he had to.

That was years ago, though, and most of the tribe was so used to seeing her with the naginata slung across her shoulders- they'd forgotten where it had really come from.

A shout had her leaping from the tower before she'd even fully registered the airbender flying into it, landing with a stumble. She got to her feet, relieved she hadn't sprained anything, and watched somewhat blankly as the structure crumbled around Aang.

It was Sokka's poor, pathetic attempts at rebuilding the tower which had her sighing. Pikea knew what she'd be doing for the rest of the day. At least her firebending would come in handy for this.

* * *

**-This is also a line.-**

* * *

It was as Pikea was gently melting the snow to make the next ice layer that she was filled with a sudden sense of dread. A glance at the sky, at the slow arc of a flare, only made the feeling grow.

She snatched her naginata from where it leaned against the wall and went in search of Sokka.


End file.
